Antrim hand Limerick defeat in opening Allianz Football League clash:
By John Keogh Limerick Leader Sport
LIMERICK’S start to Division 3 in the Allianz Football League began with a defeat this afternoon in Mick Neville Park, Rathkeale with Antrim coming away with a 2-14 to 2-7 victory.
Jimmy Lee’s side were six down at the break but twice got back to a point after the break thanks to goals from Ian Corbett and Tommie Childs, only for Antrim to pull away once again.
Ruairi McCann responded to Childs’ three-pointer within 40 seconds to give Antrim a cushion that they added to in the final quarter. Limerick travel to Down in their second game next weekend.
Antrim, aided by a strong breeze, made a fine start to the game with Eoin Hynds and keeper Michael Byrne landing points before a cracking Iain Corbett score got Limerick going.
Dermot McAleese and Peter Nash then traded scores but Antrim led 0-4 to 0-2 after 18 minutes thanks to a well-taken score from Niall Burnes.
Dominic McEnhill then landed his first of the game and Limerick then caused their own problems when Aaron O’Sullivan’s hand pass went directly to Burnes and he was hauled down. McEnhill buried the resultant penalty.
McEnhill and McCann then hit the target to put Antrim eight in front with Limerick responding through Tommie Childs who skied a shot when in on goal. A Bob Childs point then cut Antrim’s lead with the score at 1-7 to 0-4 at the break.
Limerick made an excellent start to the second half with Antrim down to 14 after a black card for McAleese. Points from Aaron O’Sullivan and Corbett cut the gap to four and then Limerick were awarded a penalty after Tommie Childs, now operating at full forward, was fouled.
Corbett made no mistake with the penalty to bring his side to within a point. Antrim responded superbly with three points on the bounce courtesy of McCann, Byrne and McEnhill.
However, Limerick were soon bringing the deficit back to a point after a press on the Antrim kick-out forcing an error with Tommie Childs hammering a short from 14 metres into the top corner.
But from the very next attack, Antrim hit back immediately with a piercing move that was finished by McCann that saw them to a 2-10 to 2-6 advantage with 56 minutes played.
Limerick were then hit with another blow when Brian O’Sullivan received a black card and Antrim took full advantage. Scores from McEnhill and Ronan Boyle saw them go five clear with Cillian Fahy scoring for Limerick in between.
However, Antrim were never in any danger of relinquishing their lead with McEnhill having the final saw with two points that saw them to a seven-point winning margin.
SCORERS – LIMERICK: Iain Corbett 1-2 (1-0 pen), Tommie Childs 1-1, Peter Nash (0-1 mark), Bob Childs, Aaron O’Sullivan (0-1 ’45) and Cillian Fahy 0-1 each.
SCORERS – ANTRIM: Dominic McEnhill 1-6 (1-0 pen, 0-4 frees), Ruairi McCann 1-2, Michael Byrne 0-2 (0-2 frees), Eoin Hynds, Dermot McAleese, Niall Burnes and Ronan Boyle 0-1 each
LIMERICK: Aaron O’Sullivan; Tony McCarthy, Sean O’Dea, Brian O’Sullivan; Colm McSweeney, Bob Childs, Paul Maher; Tommie Childs, Tommy Griffin; Iain Corbett, James Naughton, Cillian Fahy; Barry Coleman, Daniel Daly, Peter Nash.
SUBS: Emmet Rigter for Naughton (28 mins, inj), Eoin Hurley for Daly (35 mins), Cathal Downes for Griffin (44 mins), Andrew Meade for Nash (63 mins).
ANTRIM: Michael Byrne; Ronan Boyle, Eunan Walsh, Kavan Keenan; Patrick McBride, Joseph Finnegan, Colm McLarnon; Dermot McAleese, Patrick McAleer; Cormac McGettigan, Eoin Hynds, Ruairi McCann; Marc Jordan, Niall Burnes, Dominic McEnhill.
SUBS: Conor Hand for Boyle (69 mins), Declan Lynch for McAleese (71 mins), Benen Kelly for McAleer (73 mins).
REFEREE: Sean Lonergan (Tipperary).